Ascension
by KauriFish
Summary: For every Goblin King, there is a Fairy Queen. Rated M for sexual situations. To see the gown that inspired chapter 9, click my homepage URL.
1. Chapter 1

**changeling**

A child's wail pierced the quiet, setting Sarah's nerves on edge. She breathed deeply, trying to ignore the sound. Silence fell and she turned back to her problem sets. She delved into the numbers — what there were of them, she mused. They all seem to have been replaced by letters.

But that's part of what she got when she chose to pursue math. She had been tempted to focus on literature, myths. She studied them avidly — Tamlin, Telramund, True Thomas — but that seemed too personal to pursue as a profession.

Over the past two years she studied the old tales, piecing together the legends with what she remembered of her adventures in the Underground, she realized that she must have visited Fairy. She memorized the lore, piecing it together with the fragments she had caught from the denizens of the Labyrinth as she desperately sought Toby.

But math filled something of the same urge. There was something in the patterns that reminded her of... Her thought fled as another scream burst from Toby's room. She flung herself into her bed, cramming a pillow over her head. Nearly midnight and her stepmother, Karen had abandoned her attempts to quiet the babe, retiring to her now-soundproofed room.

Sarah gritted her teeth and pulled the pillow off her head. She opened her window and leaned out, feeling the rain sighing down. Toby's wails faded against the sound of the falling water. A little moonlight shone through the clouds and, for a moment, Sarah thought she saw a moonbow. She closed her eyes tightly and wished for some good way to convince Toby to stop crying so much. Abruptly the rain stopped, and fresh wailing reached her from inside. Sarah slammed the window shut and stormed into the hallway.

Sarah stalked into Toby's room. She looked toward the bed in the moonlight as her hand felt for the light switch. In the second before the florescent bulbs lit, she saw a shriveled face stare out of the blankets.

Starting forward toward the bed, she saw Toby. Her brother was still wailing, his red and contorted face looking toward her. As he saw her surprised look, his wail subsided for a moment, a shifty look crossing his face.

She knew that look and that sort of face. Somehow that was not her brother in the bed — it was a goblin.

Her hand trembled on the light switch as the implications raced through her mind. Her thoughts tumbled — and caught. She backed out of the room.

Sarah ran to her bedroom and pulled open drawers, frantically searching. Makeup, books, papers scattered in her wake. Light dawned and she turned to face the door. Reaching up she snatched the horseshoe from above her door and dashed back to Toby's room.

She paced toward the wailing baby, holding the horseshoe before her. She gazed down at the face of her brother and lowered the cold iron.

"By power of earth, be you revealed," she said and touched the horseshoe to his chest.

The goblin screamed as the cold iron touched him.

Sarah dropped the horseshoe and took hold of the tattered red and white pajamas Tob- no, the goblin insisted on wearing. As she lifted his face into the light, she saw clearly the gnarled features of a goblin.

It hissed and clutched at her hands, choking and gasping.

"Please don't strangle me, Your Majesty. I didn't mean no harm, I didn't," the goblin exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah demanded, standing and shaking the bulging-eyed monster. "Where is my brother?"

The goblin fought and sobbed. She shook him harder. "Do you need another taste of cold iron before you tell me the truth?"

The goblin cried, "All right, I'll talk. Put me down."

"Promise to tell the truth," she said, pulling the goblin closer.

"I promise," he sobbed.

"What is your name," she asked.

"Brunga," he confessed.

Sarah lowered the creature to standing on the bed. She kept hold of the pajamas, now revealed to be grungy goblin-wear.

"Now, Brunga, why are you here instead of my brother?" she asked, picking up the horseshoe. "And, by iron, answer me true."

The goblin stared at the sheets. "He sent me here."

"You mean Jareth," she pressed.

He nodded.

Sarah considered his answer. She knew the folktales. If the babe was a changeling, that would explain why he continued to cry, why he remained so scrawny while others his age were growing.

"When did you come here, Brunga?"

"Two years ago, in your time," he said, cringing.

"So that was you I found in the cradle," she said, wondering. "He never sent Toby back at all..."

Brunga scooted toward the edge of the bed, getting ready to drop beneath. Sarah looked sharply at him and snagged his ragged shirt again.

"Why did you call me 'Your Majesty,'" she asked, peering at him. "Shouldn't you reserve that title for your king, Brunga?"

He squirmed in her grip and stammered. "Well?" she demanded.

"Don't you remember?" he finally asked.

"What should I remember?"

"It's not my place to say," he said, squirming away from her.

"Brunga, if I let you go, what will you do?" she asked.

He froze, "I have to go home now that I'm found out," he said.

"How will you get back to the goblin city?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, I'm not goin' back there," he said quickly. "He'd have the hide off me quicker than a chicken if I showed my face anywhere in the city."

"Then where will you go," she asked.

"There's other places," he said. "Outside the Labyrinth, there's places I could hide if I don't mind it so dusty. Better than the bog, anyways," he muttered.

She glared at him. "Brunga, show me how you get there."

He started to object but she caught his gaze. He swallowed and climbed off the bed. He walked toward the dresser and stood next to it, stretching his arms up in a gesture like Toby's. The gesture caught her off guard for a moment. If her brother had remained with the Goblin King, he was now irrevocably a goblin.

Sarah shook her head. She'd see about that.

She lifted Brunga up onto the dresser. He hopped through the mirror. Sarah saw a dusty landscape in the glass. She looked behind her and saw Toby's comfortable room, Lancelot laying tattered by the bed. Then she slipped the horseshoe into her pocket, turned and followed the goblin through the mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

**The ruins**

Sarah hurried after Brunga's scurrying figure.

"Hurry," he hissed, choking on dust. "We're still close enough he can see us if he looks. We need to get there." He pointed toward distant shapes.

She strode quickly, overtaking the goblin. She scooped him up, holding him easily in crook of her arm as she walked toward what was starting to look like buildings. They weren't as far as it had first looked through the swirling dust.

She hurried into the shelter of a ruined structure, stopping as she felt the wind die. She set Brunga down as she looked around. Thin, graceful walls arched toward the sky, but the ceiling was long gone and dust covered much of the stone. She felt a sudden pang as she briefly saw the buildings, covered in cool, green plants. The sound of water came from nearby and a scent...

She shook herself out of her reverie as Bruga moved toward a wall and brushing aside a pile of dust he opened a chest. The sound of the hinge screeched among the walls. Brunga peered into the cavity and made a noise of satisfaction. He pulled out a leather-covered bottle, uncapped it and took a long drink.

"That's more like it," he sighed. "The worst thing about bein' a baby is that you only get to drink when the damn humans are gone."

"Is two years the longest you have managed?" she asked. All the tales of changling babes she had read had the mothers discovering the substitution immediately.

"Nah, I made seven once," he boasted. "Not many goblins can say as much."

"I don't think I ever remember a goblin saying as much as you do," Sarah said. "All the goblins I met before could barely put two words together."

Brunga muttered and took another drink.

"Why can you speak so well?" she asked.

"It's not so easy to take the part of a mortal babe," he admitted. He puffed up. "Only the smartest goblins get to do it. If I'd done a better job, it would have been chicken and pork for me." He deflated again. "But now if he catches me I'll be lucky if it's the bog." He slumped against the chest, draining the bottle. His head flopped.

Sarah shook her head at the sight of the drunken goblin slumped with the empty bottle falling from his hand. As he slumped down, she saw the catch of the chest. Moving Brunga to the side, she fingered the knotted design before lifting the lid. Pushing aside goblin treasures — evidence that more than one goblin had used this as a hide out from their king — her hands found the bottom of the box. She felt a relief pattern.

She heaved the chest up and scattered chicken feathers wrapped in rags, dull and pitted knives and other detritus over the dust. She lowered the chest to the ground and studied the pattern revealed. Something stirred in her memory.

She strode through the buildings, caught in memory, to stand before the remains of a fountain.

"How long has it been like this?" she asked the dusty void.

"Too long," a small voice said.

Sarah gasped and peered into the fountain. A tiny fairy clung to the edge, looking up at her.

"Oh you're back," the fairy cried. "Your Majesty, I knew you'd return."

Sarah gingerly picked up the tiny creature.

"What happened here?" she asked.

The fairy stared at her wide-eyed. "But Your Majesty, if you don't know then..." she trailed off.

Cradling the fairy in her hands, Sarah turned away from the fountain to look across the ruined courtyard.

"This was all green, all beautiful," she said, dazed. "Those were not plains. They were forests rich in life. But I don't know what happened."

"You, Your Majesty," the fairy said. "You went away and the king couldn't make it stay green. So he went to the place where he wouldn't have to make it green and let it all go dead here."

Sarah stared at the fairy. "But outside the Labyrinth was all dusty when I was here."

"Not when you came back," the fairy complained. "Before."

"I don't remember," Sarah said.

"Are you back for good now? Are you going to fix it all back the way it was?" the fairy chimed. "I'm so tired of having to go to that nasty Labyrinth wall to find flowers to eat. There used to be all kinds of nice flowers — gillies, forget-me-nots, sunflowers — oh it's been ages since I had a sunflower. There's only thistles now."

"Is there anyone who knows what happened?" Sarah asked.

The fairy looked frightened. "His Majesty would know."

I suppose he would, Sarah thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Old enemies**

Brunga rolled over to hide his face from the scorching glare. He felt like a piece of dried-out leather.

Sarah handed him a small cup of water. "Go easy on it. There's not much."

He gulped the water and sat up. He looked up at Sarah blearily as she sat next to him. He saw several fairies holding onto her shoulders, gazing up at her adoringly.

He hissed and swung the bottle toward one, knocking it from Sarah's shoulder. The fairy crashed into the ground with a small shriek.

He drew his arm back to strike again when Sarah grabbed him. She pried the bottle from his hands and tossed it away as the fairies hovered near her, glaring daggers at the goblin.

"Brunga, I forbid you to hurt the fairies," she said. Sarah turned to the fairies. "They will not harm you and you will not harm them. We're all friends here."

"But they're nasty little things" Brunga cried. "If you don't get them first they'll eat your eyeballs while you're asleep."

"We do not, we eat flowers," said a fairy. "That's just something the King said."

"They've been telling me a lot of things, Brunga," Sarah said, setting him down. "Now, I need you to bring some creatures from the Labyrinth here. I can't go because Ja-" she cut herself off and looked toward one fairy. She frowned in concentration for a moment then turned back to the mystified goblin and continued,"But the fairies will go with you. They will be contacting their sisters in the city while you find other goblins and some other creatures I'll describe to you. If you do this for me, I promise I'll be able to make the King leave you alone and not put you in the bog or anything else. Can you do it?"

The goblin stared at her and the fairies by turn. "Go with them? But if you says so..."

"How far is it — how long will it take you?" she asked.

"A couple days to get there, a few hours to get into the Labyrinth and get caught by the King and-." Sarah cut him off. "If you're careful he won't catch you. He'll have other things to worry about."

After Brunga and the fairies set off, the goblin trudging across the dust, the fairies clinging to his back, Sarah walked around the ruined structures once more. It had been a circle of small but elegant, two- or three-room structures. She imagined how trees would fill the spaces between, the scent of herbs rising from under foot.

She walked to the fountain and began scooping dust with her hands. After many hours of labor and tedious handfuls, it was clear revealing intricate and elegant tracings of stonework. She took the small flask of water that was all she hadn't sent with Brunga and poured it into the center.

The water spiraled in and disappeared. Sarah concentrated and waited.

With a quiet sound, water spurted up and began filling the top of the fountain.

"Couldn't wait to restore things, could you?" asked a cool voice behind her.

She turned to see the Goblin King, his sparkling clothes unmarred by dust, leaning against a ruined wall.

"Someone has to," she retorted.

"So you remember now," he said, sliding toward her. Looking in her eyes, he reconsidered. "Or maybe not. How much do you remember, my dear?

"I must say it's been ever so interesting, you remembering almost nothing, blundering through Faery like a mortal. Rather gauche of you, I think. But you've never had much regard for my opinions."

Sarah felt pinned by the barrage, punctuated with thrusts of his naked hand toward her.

"How can you be so self-righteous when you let all this go to waste?" she demanded. "You play games while creatures suffer, not to mention all the suffering you've caused with your disgusting bog and oubliettes."

"Suffering that I caused?" he asked. "Beauty that I wasted? It was you, my dear queen, who caused all this by leaving. Had you stayed and fulfilled your duty, this would still be as it was."

He advanced on her, pressing her back against the fountain.

"But you chose the fool's leap, a mortal life," he spat. His eyes caught hers and she saw desolation within.

Before she could catch her breath his lips caught hers. He crushed her to him, desperately kissing her. His hand slid down her waist to her thigh.

Jareth hissed and pulled away from her, staring at his hand. Sarah followed his stare and winced to see scorch marks on his hand.

"Cold iron, Sarah?" the Goblin King asked, holding his arm awkwardly before himself. "You bring weapons into Faery. So it is to be war between us. Very well." He turned and vanished into the dusty gloom.

Sarah heard a pattering through the thundering noise of her heart. She turned to look at the fountain behind her. Its flow had increased and small plants were growing in the top, a few bedecked with tiny yellow flowers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Into the Labyrinth**

Brunga skirted the edge of the moss-laden pool, getting away from the excited band of fairies clustered around his companions. Too many for a goblin to count, even if they were still.

True to their word, they had not bitten him on the long trek, but he still felt uncomfortable around them. He had heard too many tales of their mischief to trust them. You couldn't trust what you saw, around fairies.

As he glanced toward them the band seemed to come to a decision.

"We'll show you where some of the creatures you're looking for are hiding," said one, hovering inches from his nose. "But we can't go there."

"Is it the bog?" he asked, wrinkling his nose.

Several of the fairies darted together, whispering in voices too small for his ears.

"No, it's not the bog," one said.

"OK then, let's go," Brunga said, relieved.

Many of the fairies headed out along the wall. Several led him toward a small opening in the imposing wall. They darted in, leaving the goblin to worm his way through.

He sprang to his feet in the long corridor just in time to see the last of the fairy troupe disappear through a yet-smaller hole opposite. Brunga dove in, squeezing himself through. He emerged into a hedge maze. He looked franticly around for the fairies, finally discovering the troupe hanging over his head, giggling.

Before he could find something to throw, they were off again, darting through the hedges. Occasionally one would dart above the greenery then back to her sisters, whereupon they would change course. He found their shifting vector confusing and stumbled after them.

"Here it is," said one as the troupe stopped before a hole in the hedge.

Brunga peered in. Beyond was more maze, identical to what lay behind him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

More giggling. "We're sure. Go. You'll find the ones she asked for in there."

"Why can't you come with me," he asked, suddenly suspicious.

"We said we wouldn't," a fairy said. "A long time ago."

"We don't come in and they don't come out," another explained.

"Who don't?" Brunga squeaked.

The fairies consulted again.

"We have to go do what the queen wanted," one said. "We'll see you again outside the wall."

"But- wait," Brunga cried as the troupe darted off.

He gritted his pointed teeth and slid into the hole.

Sarah concentrated on the fountain. Some part of her mind cried that it shouldn't be this hard, it had never been this hard. Wind blew dust across her eyes as she tried to focus.

This was far harder than calculus, she realized. She didn't know the rules and so much depended on her understanding. She thought of the creatures she had sent into danger and refocussed her attention.

The water rippled and showed the palace. The throne room was crawling with brawling goblins, but there was no sign of their king. Sarah directed her thoughts to Jareth and with another ripple the water showed the Goblin King. He was standing on a balcony, surveying the Labyrinth.

That won't do, thought Sarah.

With a burst of confidence she directed her thoughts to the goblins in the throne room. With a thought she sent a scrawny chicken fleeing into the chamber of stairs. Several goblins pursued, for the moment unchecked by the hard lessons Jareth had taught them about going where they were forbidden.

Sarah watched the vision in satisfaction as the Goblin King, unfamiliar shock settling on his face, removed himself to the site of the goblins' trespass.

"Now," she whispered. The troupe of fairies swarmed over the wall and flitted into a chamber. They approached a pile of crystal orbs. Sarah peered into the vision, reaching out toward the spheres.

"That one," she whispered to them.

The fairies freed the orb from the pile, three of them carrying it toward the window while the others rearranged the pile under Sarah's direction.

"Come home," Sarah told the three. To the others, "Meet Brunga at the wall. Remember what I told you."

She quickly shifted her view to the room of stairs. It was empty. She brought the vision to the throne room, where Jareth was kicking the offending goblins.

The theft could not go unnoticed for long, but perhaps just long enough.


	5. Chapter 5

**Reaching out**

Jareth scanned the Labyrinth, idly passing a crystal orb between his fingers. He resisted the temptation to check on Sarah again. He could hardly bear to think of her back in the Underground after all this time.

Closer in space perhaps, he mused. But not in ease of touch. He had grown used to looking over her as she played out her mortal life, seeming so innocent of her weighty past. It had been intoxicating, perching on her windowsill, watching whenever he pleased. Now that she had touched the magic of the court, her former place of power, she would begin to regain her formidable talents. She was no longer the child he had toyed with in the Labyrinth.

And what did she mean by bringing cold iron back with her, he wondered. What new game was this. She must be playing for keeps this time.

If only she hadn't been so stubborn, he thought, bringing a crystal before his gaze, staring into a memory. He held Sarah close, swirling through the ballroom. She had been completely compliant in his embrace, making no effort to domineer him. She was the creature with whom he had striven for supremacy over the fairy court for ages, but with the experience of a young woman, without the strategy and domination of the Fairy Queen. He treasured the memory of her in that state, he realized sadly.

On the other hand, it would be good to have his lover and rival back again. Jareth had not understood what his queen had hoped to gain from her incarnation as a mortal, but he did not believe she would have undertaken the risk without good reason. She was too canny a witch for that.

Could he stop her from taking back the realm she had held so long? he asked himself. Did he want to, if the price was losing her to Earth?

How deep was her game?

He felt someone enter the balcony. He turned and smiled warmly at the well-turned out boy awaiting his attention.

"Come, Tobias," he said, waving his human charge toward him. "Join me." Jareth had given up on the idea of renaming the boy. It made it nearly impossible to get meaningful answers from the goblin's about the boy's location when they misplaced him, among other problems. But "Toby" was too informal for the ward of the Goblin King.

The boy moved to Jareth's side. "What did the goblins do this time?" the boy asked.

"They forgot to respect the boundaries I gave them," the Goblin King explained.

"But the chamber of stairs, no goblin has violated that rule in all the time I've been here," Tobias said, careful of his diction. If he slipped into goblin speak his guardian would correct him.

"Well I suppose the excitement of a chicken-" the Goblin King began to laugh then cut himself off. It was unusual behavior, come to think of it. He began to grow suspicious.

"Your Majesty?" the boy asked anxiously. "What do you think got into the goblins?"

"Nothing, I'm sure," Jareth said. "It's time for your lesson."

Sarah took a moment to check the progress of the fairy trio bearing the crystal to her before turning her attention back to the fountain. If that sphere contained what she thought it did, she would have much to do.

Stretching her attention over the dusty ruins, she strained to touch the patterns. She could almost feel them, nearly grasp them. She felt so close to understanding, but some necessary element eluded her.

An image swam into her mind, of threads of magic dancing in her hands. The fountain, when she had created it. An alien feeling rushed over her. Her knees buckled with an intense feeling of vertigo and deja vu.

She took a deep breath and walked around the fountain. She had done this before.

She dipped her hands into the water and brought a cupped handful to her lips. The water tingled she drank, and she felt calmer, more connected.

She sat on dusty ground, cross-legged, and let her senses expand.

Brunga scuttled quietly into the maze. He didn't see anything different than the part of the Labryinth he was just in.

Suddenly he was hoisted into the air. "What's this?" asked a gruff voice, as the hand turned him upside-down.

"I say, it is a goblin. Verily, I hath not seen one of their kind since, well for a long time," said another voice.

"Should I stuff it down the outbliette, yer knightship?" Brunga twisted around to see who was holding him. A dwarf! He thought they were all gone.

"Methinks there may be more to this goblin than meets the eye." The dwarf righted Brunga as his companion approached.

Sir Didymus examined the goblin. "What is thy business in the dwarven realm?" he demanded of the goblin. Brunga saw other dwarves creep out of the shadows toward them.

"Her Majesty sent me," he blurted. "No oubliette, please, oh please."

"Majesty?" Hoggle asked suspiciously. "What majesty is that?"

"Her," said Brunga desperately. "The Fairy Queen. Sarah. She told me to follow the fairies here and find a knight, a dwarf and a monster."

Sir Didymus looked sad.

"Thou hast completed part of thy mission, goblin," he said. "But not all. My brother Sir Ludo hath passed beyond the shadows." He doffed his cap and looked down.

"Wha?" the goblin asked.

"He means the monster died," Hoggle explained.

"His kind is as short of life as they are noble of heart," the fox sighed.

Brunga shook his head. This was getting too complicated for him.

Sarah's old comrades and Brunga crept through a thorny stretch of maze, accompanied by several dwarves who had elected to come with Hoggle, who had gained standing among his brethren for his stand against the Goblin King during his adventures with Sarah.

All had been reluctant to accept Brunga's claim that their comrade had been the Fairy Queen in some sort of disguise.

"It was her all right," the goblin told Hoggle. I knew it as soon as she spotted me in her brother's bed."

"Then why didst thou not see her for a queen when thou didst pose as her brother?" Sir Didymus asked. "Surely thy sight didst not become more keen overnight. Perhaps thou sawest something else in the fair maid's noble spirit-"

"Nah, it's her," the goblin said. "It was just like when his high kingness sent me to her room to steal the-" Brunga belately cut himself off.

"Right," said Hoggle, "Speaking of that bastard, let's get out of here before he-"

The dwarf gasped as briars closed in their path. One of the other dwarves snatched him back just before the thorns snagged him. Ambrosius whimpered.

The group put their backs to one another, looking for a way out. There was none.

The briars tightened.

Hoggle stumbled against Sir Didymus's steed and fell.

"Hey," he said, pushing at catch in the stone. "Get off the door."

"Wha?" asked Brunga, trying to evade the thorns.

Hoggle pushed the door aside. "Suit yerself." Brunga fell in, quickly followed by the others.


	6. Chapter 6

**Revelations**

The fairy trio strained toward the ruins. Losing altitude they flung themselves and the crystal sphere they bore toward their queen.

She turned toward them and they felt the tiny — but significant to them — weight of the sphere become nothing as it soared into her hand. Holding it by her fingertips she held it up to the light.

Lecherous figured cavorted within. It was the ballroom she remembered, filled with debauched beings intoxicated with their diversions. Hideous masks covered features she now remembered.

She set the crystal down in the dust and touched it with the horseshoe. The crystal burst and she was surrounded by dazed fairies, their tiny frames covered with rags.

One fairy looked down at herself, took her hair in her hands. "My beautiful red hair," she sobbed. "I could have danced forever."

Sarah thought she heard a snatch of song. "It's only forever..." that faded as she strained to catch it. She shook it off.

"How did you enjoy your ball?" she asked the bedraggled fairies.

"Your Majesty, is that really you? exclaimed one.

"But the ball was supposed to last all night," protested another.

"I think it's lasted far more than one night," said Sarah. "Look around you."

The fairies slowly took in their surroundings. The trio who had brought the sphere eyed them curiously.

"I never thought it could get this bad," sobbed one, still mourning her auburn locks.

"This is what became of our realm without us," Sarah said.

"But before he took us to the ball, Jareth said everything would be just how we left it," protested a fairy.

"He lied," Sarah told her.

"You know he lies, silly," said one of the three. "How could you forget when he tricked you into drinking that-" She silenced herself at a gesture from Sarah.

"We've each done things of which we're not proud," Sarah said.

The fairies drooped around the fountain. Sarah felt strange around them.

"Can you fix it?" asked one.

"She fixed the fountain," said another.

"_We_ fixed the fountain," Sarah said.

Several of the fairies gasped and several gathered together, buzzing with conversation. Right, thought Sarah, I'm going to have to get used to this again.

Jareth quaked as he felt an old spell shatter. He raced to the crystal chamber, too distracted to will himself there.

The ballroom crystal was gone. He backed against the wall in shock. This was what her distraction had been about, he realized.

"Your Majesty?" Tobias's small voice rung in the chamber.

Jareth stared at him. If he had not kept the boy, Sarah would not be here now, he thought desperately. He wondered if he could bargain the boy for... No, he realized. That would not work.

Grasping another crystal, he raced to the window and hurled it toward a distant point. Tobias stared as the Goblin King assumed owl form and sped away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Confrontations**

Brunga extricated himself from Ambrosius and a dwarf. He scuttled away from the group, all of whom were still recovering from the drop. His eyes adjusted to the gloom and he saw they were in a rough stone cavern. Low tunnels led in many directions.

"Which way to the wall?" the goblin asked.

One of the dwarves walked to a wall and tapped it. The others spread out, investigating the tunnel. Sir Didymus stayed in the center, calming his steed.

After a few moments, the dwarves gathered to confer.

"None of them go toward the wall," Hoggle announced.

Brunga slumped. "Are we stuck?"

The dwarves smiled. "How can we be stuck?" Hoggle asked. "Did you think we're a bunch of fairies or something? Who'dya think built all the rock parts of the Labyrinth in the first place?"

The dwarves gathered at one wall. They seemed to be pushing the stone out of the way — a tunnel opened before them. "This way," said Hoggle.

The party's progress was slow as the dwarves took turns creating the path before them. Even Didymus, following slowly on the limping Ambrosius, was silent.

Finally the dwarves pushed through into an opening. A voice boomed. "Who goes there?" Brunga began to scuttle back into the tunnel. Hoggle grabbed him and sighed.

"They're false alarms, ya dumb goblin," he said. "You never see them before?"

The party made their way through the corridors, setting off cries from the alarms.

"Beware for the path you will take leads to certain destruction."

"Darkness, darkness will cover you forever!"

Brunga, Sir Didymus and his steed crept along, cowed by the shouting. Hoggle and the other dwarves roundly ignored the warnings while tapping on walls, checking side passages, leading in a circuitous route.

They passed a section of collapsed wall and Hoggle jumped.

"All right, I knows how to get out from here," he exclaimed.

He quickly let the party through a twisting series of tunnels that seemed to circle in on itself. But at last Hoggle opened a door to filtered sunshine.

He turned to smile at them smugly. "The way out of the Labyrinth," he said, walking into a small room with a ladder that led up. They climbed.

"Now where are those pesky fairies we is supposed to meet?" he said, looking around the dank foliage at the foot of the wall.

A crystal floated just above their heads. Hoggle turned pale as he turned his head to watch it draw near a tree. A bird was perched on it. An owl.

Jareth fluttered out of the tree and Hoggle, Brunga and several of the dwarves fell shaking to the ground as he transformed. Even Didymus seemed to quail as the Goblin King advanced upon them.

"Did you think you could just walk out of my Labyrinth without my noticing?" the Goblin King asked, stalking toward the group, the crystal snaking through his fingers.

Jareth placed the tip of his boot under Hoggle's chin and tilted his face up.

"So my faithful dwarf isn't dead after all," he mused. "I would have thought your brothers would have seen to that. You did betray them, though not thoroughly enough, it seems."

Hoggle steeled himself and rose to his feet to face the king.

"All that's over and done with," he said. "I don't obey you anymore and I'm not scared of you neither."

The other dwarves stood behind Hoggle and glared at Jareth.

The Goblin King strode around the party.

"What shall I do with this band of traitors?" he said. "How interesting that there are still dwarves alive. The bog is too good for all of you, particularly you." He snatched Brunga up.

"You couldn't even keep your mouth shut, could you? You led her right back home," Jareth demanded, dangling the quaking goblin by one ear. "Perhaps you'd all like to join my other guests."

The Goblin King held up the crystal. Brunga and the other could see fairies huddled inside. Jareth smiled.

"No," a voice commanded.

Jareth turned and gaped. Sarah walked toward him, clad in a flowing white gown and accompanied by the fairy court, no longer garbed in rags but also in pure white.

"That's enough, Jareth," she said.

She gestured and the crystal leapt to her hand. She tossed it into the air, still holding his gaze. It burst and the fairies swarmed forth, joining the court.

Sir Didymus stopped trying to calm Ambrosias and strode toward Sarah.

"Your Majesty," he said, kneeling. "How can it be that I knew you not? For though thou art the mortal maid who bested the Labyrinth, yet thou art also the Fairy Queen."

Sarah smiled at the fox and bid him arise her knight.

Hoggle gaped.

"How touching," said Jareth. He glared at the company of fairies behind Sarah.

"I said enough, Jareth," Sarah said.

A light flashed, and the Goblin King and Fairy Queen were gone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Questions**

Tobias turned from gazing over the Labryinth, startled as his sister appeared.

"Sarah?" he said, wonderingly, then shook himself. He quickly bowed, "Your Majesty."

"Toby?" she caught his chin in her hands and turned his chin up to her. His head came almost to her shoulder. He was the image of the perfect page, a boy approaching manhood, where should have been a child of three.

"How many years has it been, Toby?" she asked, gently.

"If it please Your Majesty, I have been in the court of His Majesty, the Goblin King, for 11 years," he said, bowing again.

Eleven years, thought Sarah, turning from him. Time flowed faster in fairy, it seemed.

"Has the king treated you well?"

"Very well, Your Majesty," he said. "He has seen to my education himself."

"I see that he has," she said. Her brow furrowed as she regarded Toby.

"I tried to rescue you," she said. "Through the Bog of Eternal Stench, the oubliette, the room of stairs. I thought I'd won your freedom, but he cheated me with a changling."

"But you wished me away, the king said you wished me away," he said, staring at her.

"The goblins tricked me," she confessed. "I didn't know that I was wishing you away. When Jareth told me what he'd done with you, I fought my way through the Labyrinth, through the Goblin City. I defeated him and he cheated me."

Toby stared at her in silence, emotions warring on his face. Sarah took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I wished you away, Toby," she said. "It was a stupid, selfish thing for me to do."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"He said you never admit when you make mistakes."

"I've changed."

"So is Sarah really the Fairy Queen?" Hoggle asked a fairy as they settled into the shade of some trees.

"Yes and no," the fairy replied. "She has the queen's memories and some of her powers, but she is not the fairy I remember."

"That queen would have let us stay in the king's crystal until we begged for mercy and made promises," said another. "She didn't do that."

"So what's she gonna do?" asked Brunga, cowed by the presence of so many strange creatures but assured by the lack of violence directed at him.

"I don't know," said a fairy. "We don't know her anymore."

"Oh," said the goblin. "And I thought you were the only dwarf left," he said to Hoggle. "What's up with these guys?"

Hoggle looked at the dwarves.

"Jareth killed most of the dwarves after they got done buildin' the stone parts of the Labyrinth so no one else would know those secrets," he explained. "He kept me around in case more work needed doing. He thought I was the only one."

"Hoggle found some of us that had hidden out in a part of the Labyrinth the king didn't know about," explained another dwarf. "But Jareth saw it and killed most of who was left. He said Hoggle had betrayed us, but we knew better after we saw him stand up to that bastard when Sarah was here to get her brother back."

"Her brother!" Brunga slapped himself and tumbled over. "He still has Toby, don't he?"

The fairies buzzed together.

Jareth clasped Sarah to him as they spun about the empty ballroom. She gazed innocently at him, enraptured, the decorations in her hair quivering with her trembling.

"My Sarah," he said, drawing her closer. Jareth was exalted. He had her. He drew her to a stop against him and let his lips find her neck. Her trembling increased., her fingers tracing the embroidery on his coat, clinging to him.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her against him and spinning as he plunged a hand into her hair. His mouth found hers and he felt her soft lips give way under his kiss.

"Jareth," she whispered as he broke the kiss, gazing into his eyes with a soft and loving stare.

"Mine, once again," he murmured against her neck. His hands found the ties of her gown and quickly undid them. Her eyes went wide. His clothes vanished as he slid the gossamer off her still form. He slowly pulled her toward him, his eyes burning her as he gazed at her naked flesh.

"All mine."

She trembled as his fingers caressed, then seized.

"Is that really what you want?" Sarah asked the Goblin King. She lowered the crystal, its vision of the entwined couple still within. The pair stood beside the restored fountain in the ruined court.

Jareth's eyes followed the orb for a moment. That vision had been everything he'd fantasized. Every tremble of her innocent frame as he'd taught her, that was what he desired. He pulled his gaze to his foe's face.

"It was," he admitted.

She closed her hand on the crystal and it vanished.

"What did you learn while I was gone?" she asked, not looking at him.

He stared at her. She waited. The silence was marred by the sound of dust blowing against the crumbling walls.

"I learned," he said finally, striding toward her, "how to rule a kingdom all my own. How to deal with faithless fairies and how to survive without you."

"Did you?" she asked. "Do you want me to leave you to the Labyrinth, to your rule?"

"Why could you not have accepted my offer?" he cried. "We both could have had what we wanted."

"You have learned nothing," she said sadly. "I learned much in my time among the mortals. Perhaps not as much as I could have if I'd been left undisturbed by Faery."

At this Jareth looked disturbed, but he quickly recovered himself.

"Yes, I see you learned much among mortals," he said, pressing in toward her. "Their ways kill our world and here you carry their weapons. Is that the greatness you learned among humans?"

"I learned to use the tools that come to hand," Sarah replied. "And I learned that in your Labyrinth."

"Cruelty comes all to natural to you, Majesty," Jareth said mockingly and stalked away from her. "You see our world crumbling and blame me, when it was your faithlessness that broke the charm that held our realm together."

"You cannot hold me to those sins," she said angrily. "That was a different time."

"Oh really?" the Goblin King asked, turning toward her again, a crystal between his fingers. "Was it so different?"

The crystal held her gaze for a moment, then she was lost in a memory of the past.


	9. Chapter 9

**Memories**

The Fairy Queen strode through the courtyard clad in a long gown of pale green, its skirts frothed with lace and the satin clinging to her breasts swathed in pearls. The fountain sparkling multi-colored in the twilight, the flowers blooming brightly around her ankles as their scents twined in the warm air.

"Leave me," she ordered the gaggle of fairies attending her as she reached a door. They scattered, giggling.

The door swung open before her and she slid through into the cool darkness within.

She eagerly shed her cloak and relaxed onto the dais, reaching for a goblet of flower-scented wine. She waved a hand and several lamps lit, casting petals of light.

"Your Majesty," a deep voice rumbled from a shadowed alcove. The queen gazed smiling as a man stepped forth. His hooves clopped gently against the floor as he stepped before the dais, sinking into a bow. She rose and set down her goblet, then fingered the elaborate leather sash crossing the satyr's broad chest.

"It's been a long time, Thaedrus," she said, her eyebrows arching.

"It is always too long, Your Majesty," he replied, his gaze lustful yet polite upon her.

She chuckled and pulled him to her.

His hands slid down her satin gown, its pearls glimmering in the lamplight.

"Your gown, Your Majesty," he said, his hands straying to the ties. She danced away from him and the gown came smoothly from her shoulders. She stepped out of it and sent it flying to hang over a chair with a gesture. She smiled an invitation and they sank into the dais together.

The satyr's rough hands caressed her breasts as he slid down to burrow his nose into her downy hair. He began to lick and she moaned. He snorted and groaned as he ground his face into her wetness, his hands digging into her hips as she cried out.

His eyes were crazed as he raised his face from her thighs. He flung her over, pulling her bottom to him, he struggled to plunge his huge phallus into her.

She wriggled back against him, the tension straining her shoulders. He inched into her, pushing frantically.

He sank his length halfway into her then froze, his eyes wide and staring.

"Yes, now," she whispered.

Thaedrus reached between her thighs to pinch her ripe berry between his fingers as he began to pump furiously. He picked up speed and she began to babble in pleasure.

A shadow flickered over their straining forms as a snowy owl flapped through the window. The satyr froze and the Goblin King rose over them.

"Well, well, well," Jareth said, rage lighting his eyes.

"Don't stop," the queen commanded the satyr.

Thaedrus hesitated, caught between the king's jealous rage, the queen's command and his own lust.

"Oh, fine," said the queen, glancing toward Jareth. She flung a hand toward him and the king staggered back against the wall.

"Continue," she commanded, pulling the satyr's hand between her thighs once more. His fingers moved automatically as his hips picked up speed again.

Jareth watched as she moaned, her body shuddering. The satyr was pumping frantically, his face transported with pleasure.

Sarah gave a final sigh and abruptly pulled away from the frantic satyr, rising and clothing herself once more. Thaedrus just barely kept himself from seizing her, to finish what they had started. He flushed with humiliation as he saw that she was done with him.

"Thank you, Thaedrus, that will be all," she said, picking up her goblet and turning to face the Goblin King, smiling triumphantly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Confrontations**

Jareth snapped his fingers and the crystal vanished.

"I have not forgotten how cruel you can be, Sarah," he said. "That has not changed."

"I..." Sarah looked furiously at Jareth, his face tense and flushed.

"Cruel to me, cruel to the court, cruel even to that stupid beast," he said, accusing. "You could have taken your pleasures without hurt, but it suited your pride that hearts should break for you. You would sacrifice anything for your pride and for your own selfish desires. You did not hesitate to use the satyr to fulfill your perverse desires just as you did not hesitate to humiliate the dwarf when it suited your purposes. You've changed? Not that I can see." He gazed down upon her.

She was lost. The memory of Thaedrus's hands on her seemed so close, as did a horrible, wretched feeling. She remembered telling one of her fairies to flit by Jareth as she left the fairy court. She knew that would pique Jareth's interest, that he would understand what she was doing. She remembered everything. Had she done that? Why?

Her mind whirled and Jareth looked on her, gloating.

"Did you think that a few years among the mortals would change you? We cannot change."

Sarah looked up at him.

"But we must."

Brugar panted as he charged up the steps of the palace. Goblins scattered at the sight of the odd party, muttering.

"Surrender, thou foul vermin," cried Sir Didymus as Ambrosias took the stairs two at a time. The dwarves brought up the rear.

Brugar skidded to a halt as he saw Tobias, a sack flung over his shoulder, run down the stairs. Tobias also skidded to a halt as he stared at the motley party.

Didymus dismounted and bowed, "We hath come to rescue thee, Sir Tobias, on the orders of the very Fairy Queen herself!"

Tobias's eyes grew wide. His hand strayed into a pocket and he struggled for words.

"Rescue me? But I'm running away! The Goblin King lied to me about my sister. I have to go find her."

"Thoust cannot run away, for we are to rescue thee from the foul grip of the Goblin King," declaimed Didymus.

"But, he's not foul, even if he is a liar," Tobias objected.

"All right, let's get a move on," said Hoggle. "We'll help you run away, if you's like that better. All the same we'd better get goin' before you-know-who gets back."

Tobias started to object, then caught the looks on the faces of the dwarves, who were clearly prepared to make their get-away by whatever means.

"Right," he said striding toward the doors.

Sarah shook her head as Jareth circled her.

"Now that you've given up your little delusions, perhaps it is time to discuss what to do about the legacy of your little foray," he said. "Alone I have barely managed to keep up the Labyrinth and palace. The rest of Faery is little more than a wasteland."

"But I was going to set it right," Sarah objected.

"But how?" Jareth asked. "What power is great enough to restore these blasted lands? What can bring back the great forest, the wide plain, the seas? Do you have that power?"

"I thought..."

"Yes, you do," he said, stopping in front of her and smiling. "You do?"

She stared at him wildly.

"Your heart's blood, Sarah."

He drew forth the horseshoe.

"So kind and brave for you to give this to dear Toby. Too bad he couldn't hold onto it. What did you think he would do with it, my lovely queen? Kill me?"

He tossed the horseshoe into the air. When it came back into his hand it was a dagger. He offered it to her, hilt first.

"Will you kill me? You brought a weapon from the mortal world. This must be what you had in mind. Kill me and regain your kingdom."

She started to reach for it. He turned away, examining the blade.

"But of course you know that wouldn't work. My blood won't restore Faery, no more than will yours."

"But you said my heart's..."

"Yes, your heart's blood," he said, turning and offering her a crystal. Inside she saw Tobias, fighting his way across the Goblin City. She gasped and vanished.


	11. Chapter 11

**Escape**

Tobias ducked as a goblin launched itself at him. A dwarf swung his axe at another goblin as it reached out to grab the boy.

Sir Didymus clung to his steed as Ambrosias galloped across the city square, making for the gates. His cries of "The battle is behind us" faded as the sounds of grunting goblins and swearing dwarves rose.

Hoggle whacked a goblin and plucked Brugar from a brawling mob of the small creatures.

"We gotta get outa the Labyrinth," he said. "No foolin' around." Tucking Brugar under one arm, he grabbed Tobias. "Run," he cried.

The goblins, who did not seem eager to strike their king's ward, made half-hearted attempts to stop them, but the dwarves formed a phalanx before them and they charged to the gates of the city, following Didymus's yelling.

Two birds, a falcon and an owl, lit on the ground. Jareth rose. "Did you think I would allow goblins to harm Tobias?" he asked Sarah as she flung her hair from her face. "You think ever less of me," he accused.

"You would do anything," she replied angrily, staring at the retreating party.

"But will you?" he asked.

She turned to demand what he meant, but he again assumed owl form and struck out of the city. She shook her head and followed.

Hoggle strained to keep up with Tobias' long strides as the group stumbled into the beginnings of a hedge-maze. Tobias rounded a corner and collapsed as a dwarf barreled out of control into the backs of his knees. They all collapsed and lay in a heap, catching their breath.

"Is there anyone chasing us?" Tobias asked a gasping Didymus.

"I saw no one," the fox answered.

"You were runnin' too fast to look," said Hoggle. "Half the goblin city coulda been after us."

Didymus puffed himself up to respond. Tobias interposed himself. "We don't have time to fight each other," he said. "We have to keep going."

He got to his feet, helping a dwarf up and spotting Brunga nursing the last drops from a leather wineskin. Brunga stared at him hard, then leapt up, crying, "Watch it-"

Tobias turned to see a crystal globe hurtling toward him. Before he could move, it struck.

The falcon strained to keep pace with the owl who knew each thermal and downdraft. A bright flash of magic flickered before her. She saw the owl dip behind a hedge and emerge with something clutched in a claw. Between his talons she saw a glimpse of a precious face. A desperate sound escaped her and she saw the owl vanish. She gathered her strength to follow.


	12. Chapter 12

**The sacrifice**

The fairies huddled in a corner of the courtyard. Seeing the Goblin King without the shelter of the Fairy Queen's protection was terrifying. One, braver than her sisters, watched as Jareth stalked around the restored fountain, a crystal flashing between his fingers.

A faint rustle called his attention. The Goblin King stared into a sun-lit doorway. Feathers gave way to sunset-kissed white satin as Sarah emerged.

"Give me the child," she said, anger cooling her words.

"No, my queen, he is mine," Jareth said. "You know what must be done, but do you have the steel to do it?"

He bounced the crystal off his palm and it burst. Tobias appeared, bound to the fountain. Sarah started toward her brother, but Jareth drew between them, the dagger twirling in his hand.

"It will be more powerful if you do it," Jareth told her, drawing so close that she could feel the cold of the iron on her bare skin. So close that she could feel the iron's drain on the Goblin King's power, even through the leather of his gloves.

"There must be some other way," she said, looking desperately to Jareth, not letting herself look at Tobias.

"Perhaps there was, but no longer, Sarah," he said, backing her away from the fountain. "Now, blood is the only way."

She stared into his eyes. "We must restore our lands," she whispered.

Jareth pressed the dagger into her hand. She winced at the feel of the cold iron. But she could bear it, as a mortal.

Sarah felt the Goblin King's hand on the small of her back, guiding her toward the bound figure of her brother. His eyes were glazed and his figure slumped.

"He will know nothing," Jareth assured her. "He will feel nothing. He would want you to do this. I have schooled him well in responsibility."

"Responsibility," she echoed dully.

"Strike now," he urged. "For Faery."

Sarah raised the dagger. "For Faery," she cried and brought the blade down.

Jareth staggered back as Sarah fell against him, the blade in her breast. He grasped her and let her down to the ground slowly.

Sarah moaned. Jareth pulled the dagger from the wound, staring at the awful wound. Blood oozed down the white satin to pool on the ground. He tossed the knife away and clutched at her, tears rising in his eyes as they had not in eons. He lowered his face to hers to kiss her, feeling her already start to cool.

He had been kneeling for an eternity, it seemed, when the chittering of fairies caught his attention. He raised his head, a rebuke on his lips, when green met his eyes. Grasses grew across the courtyard, trees spread stately, fruit and flowers blossoming on their branches. Water now leapt from the fountain. He could smell blossoms on the cool breeze.

"Night is falling."

Jareth turned to see Tobias looking at the horizon.

"There has not been night in Faery since the time before," Tobias recited.

"She brought it," Jareth said, looking back to where Sarah lay. She was gone.

"Where did she go?" Tobias asked frantically, seeing the spot empty. "What did you do with her? Why was she dead?"

Jareth shook his head.

"She is not dead. She cannot be dead. She is the Fairy Queen."

"But the knife. You told me cold iron will kill a fairy," Tobias demanded.

"It will," Jareth said. "But she was no fairy. She was as mortal as you, though she had the blood of fairy in her."

"As Tobias did not," Sarah's voice carried into the courtyard.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ascension**

Jareth and Tobias turned to the east. The Fairy Queen stood framed by the first light of morning. Fairies flitted about her and the light played on her red velvet gown.

She opened her arms and Tobias bounded toward her. She embraced him, then held him at arm's length, looking fondly at him.

"Tobias is Karen's son," she told Jareth. "My fairy blood was through my mother. His death would have been for nothing."

For once, the Goblin King was without words.

"But my blood, my mortality, was enough," she told Tobias. "The land is restored, and I am as I was." She sighed.

"You are," Jareth's words rang out coldly in the morning light. He retrieved the dagger and presented it to her, hilt first. "Will you have my blood then, Your Majesty," he asked. "It may restore nothing, but it will assuage your rage."

Sarah sighed again.

"There will be no more death between us, my husband," she said. She gestured and the dagger was a horseshoe once more, hovering in the air.

"This is for you, my brother," she told Tobias. "Touch it and it will take you back Aboveground. Our father should not lose both his children at once. He and Karen will have to get used to your age difference. They will find some way to explain it — to themselves, anyway."

"But I want to stay with you," he said. "I don't know anything about Aboveground. I don't even remember it."

"It is your place," she said sadly. "I will miss you. When you come of age, you will have to choose — mortal or Faery, Above or Underground. Until then, learn all you can of mortalkind. They have much to teach us."

They hugged again. Tobias backed away and reached toward the horseshoe.

"I'll be watching you, Toby," Sarah said. He touched the cold iron and vanished.

Sarah bowed her head, reflecting on what she had lost. Jareth looked toward the Labyrinth, sensing great changes there.

"Will you leave without greeting me?"

Jareth looked at her. "I cannot leave you. Wherever I go in Faery, so there you will be."

She smiled wryly. "Poor Jareth, he has his playground back, but will have to share it again. You would have done better to leave me Above."

"I tried. I couldn't. You drew me as a lodestone draws the needle. I convinced myself that ruling dust alone was better than contending with you, but I need you."

Sarah saw the hurt in his face as he admitted the truth.

"What I said was not the truth entire," she said. "I am not as I was. There is much I don't remember. I am a different person now."

"And I have learned much in your absence," he said. "Though I don't know that I'll be able to keep from fighting with you always."

"If you could, you would not at all be the Jareth I remember," she said, smiling into his eyes.

"Sarah," he whispered, drawing her to him.

"Just a minute, Jareth," she said, looking hard at him and holding him away from her. "About that bog…"


	14. Chapter 14

**Epilogue**

"Happy birthday, Toby," Karen cried, bustling into his room and flinging the curtains open.

"Mom," Tobias cried. "Don't come in here and don't call me Toby!"

"Don't be silly, honey," she said. "Don't I get to say good morning on your 18th birthday? And I've always called you Toby. I don't know where you got that 'Tobias' nonsense from."

"Whatever, Mom," he said. "Could you get out while I get dressed?"

"Of course, dear," she said, stooping down to kiss him. "Your father and I — and breakfast — will be waiting."

"Thanks, Mom," he said. "Now get out."

As soon as the door closed he collapsed back into the sheets then groaned and climbed out of bed. He pulled the curtains closed again and rummaged through a pile for some mostly clean clothes. He pulled on sweats and a T-shirt.

"Are you ready to make your decision?"

Tobias whirled to see his sister's face in the mirror. "Are you kidding?" he asked.

Sarah smiled. "Well, I have been watching."

"Not everything, I hope," he said, blushing a little.

"Not everything. Things have been pretty busy here. There have been some repercussions from what I did. There's a task for you, if you'll take it."

He quickly pulled on socks and shoes and gathered a few possessions into his pockets. He lingered over an old horseshoe, but left it hanging over the door.

"I'm ready."

The Fairy Queen held out her hand. Tobias climbed onto the dresser and through the mirror.

**The End**


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